temperate restraint on the part of the people and officials of Hong Kong and the people and officials of China.
And that
is why the rôle of the judge in Hong Kong will become one of
the greatest importance. It will be even more important than
other checks and it is under the present régime with its
balances and its accountability to democratic legislature
a
"
at Westminster.
An independent
courage, judge of
mighty
intellectual
treasury
of
the common
sustained by
is
the
law
an
essential component in the peaceful and just transition of
Hong Kong from its present status to its new rôle.
For the sake of universal
universal human rights and for the
rights of the people of Hong Kong, it is my hope that judges
be
tradition will
found, in the words of
courteously, to answer wisely, to
in this
great
Socrates, "to hear
consider soberly and to decide impartially". If the spirit
of basic rights is left in the people of Hong Kong and if
judges emerge who
emerge who can interpret that spirit and enforce it
with the support of the people, those rights may yet survive
after 1997.
ENDNOTES
President of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia. Commissioner, Member of the Executive Committee and Chairman Elect of the International Commission of Jurists.
1.
Shipping
Gaudron J in Oceanic Sun Line Special
Company Inc v Fay (1988) 165 CLR 197, 263 ("Our legal
heritage is the gift of the common law of England and
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41
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